Chase was yet again facing another problem, but this time it was his sheer strength that became his weakness, Chase was not able to manifest Shakti but his body was somehow able to manipulate pure Urja itself, pure Urja by itself was incredibly powerful, so powerful that upon using it, it would tear apart his muscles and would crush his bones. However, meeting with Greg was indeed a blessing because, with his power of healing, Chase's injuries would heal up in no time. Both of them had no idea how long this breaking and healing would go on but all they could do was train to perfect Chase's manipulation over Urja.
Upon mastering Greg's martial arts in just 3 months, Chase had to learn it again but with properly transferring and balancing Shakti around his body, he first started with the supply of Shakti to his fists, ending up destroying them every single time he did it, upon having somewhat mastering the fists, he moved to his legs, again crushing them every time he attempted a kick. Pure Urja couldn't be used as a defense, as Chase would have to immediately release it upon gathering it in one part of his body, so all Chase was now, was a self-destructing weapon with no defense whatsoever, even then, Chase was adamant about staying true to his promise to himself and his responsibility over the facility. Another problem he thought that would hinder his progress was the installments of the facility but Greg agreed to loan him money until he started to earn his share by fighting.
Another 4 months passed and Chase who had just turned 13 was ready to enter the ring,
"Remember what you've learned in these 7 months you spent honing, I mean, somewhat honing your skills, I managed to pull some strings so your first opponent should be an easy one, remember, DO NOT block, your opponent's Shakti is 'Fire Fist', the name should be pretty self-explanatory, the guy only relies on his Shakti, he doesn't know any specific martial art, his flames only work on his fists, making his legs the weakest part of his body, go on brat, they're calling out for you. Go break a leg and hopefully his." said Greg patting his back and sending him off to the ring.
It wasn't Chase's first time and yet he still wasn't used to this, who could blame him, the cheers of the crowd, the look on the faces of the betting parties, all of them who thought that this 13-year punk was an easy game, he wanted to prove all of them wrong, it was time he took another step towards becoming the strongest in the world.
The moment he entered the ring and took a look at his opponent, every other thought vanished from his head, all he could see now was his opponent and the caged ring around them, now all he waiting for was the bell to go off and then it happened, the start of the fight that would go down as one of the biggest upset of that time.
As soon as the match began, Chase's eyes never left the opponent, every move he made, every breath he took, he calculated it all, in the early phase of the match it went down exactly as Greg said, the opponent didn't use any part of his body other than his fists, all Chase did then was dodge and observe, and in the middle stage what took place was a spectacle, a miscalculation on Greg's end, and in came a strong kick to the head, but Chase who observed every minute muscle movement was able to dodge it with ease, what did shock the audience was Chase's movement to evade the kick, none of them thought that the human body could even bend that far.
Flustered by the reaction of the audience, came the barrage of uncoordinated kicks and punches, Chase managed to dodge each and every one of them skillfully displaying his speed and flexibility over the opponent, but a fight couldn't be won without one of them going down or giving up. So, it was now time for Chase to display his superiority over the opponent.
Suddenly switching his stance, he caught his opponent off guard by swiveling towards the right to avoid his left hook, stepping on his foot to stop him in one place, Chase landed a left hook body shot, completely destroying his opponent and his rib cage in the process.
It took some time for the crowd to register the end of the match, looking down at the full-grown adult who got his ribs destroyed by a 13-year-old, they finally let out a loud roar of a cheer, and the commentators and the betting parties who bet on Chase went off. It set in motion what the fighters in the underground scene now refer to as 'the era of the "One shot"'.
Like his first, every other match that Chase was a part of ended in one single move, no matter how strong defense the opponent boasted, it all failed in front of pure Urja, but the same couldn't be said about his defense and speed, as Chase rose in the ranks of the underground fighters, so did the level of his opponents, Chase started to sustain injuries before getting to plant that single shot, Chase had only 3 shots in his bag, he needed one leg to stand on, each shot taken meant one of the limbs being crushed. Every big match that he fought, he'd endure more and more pain, before finally being healed by Greg but even in that pain he decided to keep moving forward.
A year passed, and the stronger the opponent he faced was, the more money he'd earn, he put some of his savings into the merchant's drug business, the money was no longer a problem, and he'd already paid back the loan he took from Greg and also made him even more money as his fixer. Only a few more fights and he'd have paid off his remaining installments, but as they say, good things don't last, Chase was running out of strong opponents that were willing to fight him, and the rumor of Chase being an underground fighter reached Alice's ears, Alice who grew suspicious of Chase's sudden growth in income. Upon being asked, Chase would often just brush off the question by telling her that he was being awarded a bonus or a sudden salary hike.
Gathering information about his next fight, she reached the arena, what she saw then was not what she had imagined Chase would grow up to be, the fight was rather violent, ending with Chase victorious on his remaining leg. What frightened her more was that the boy, the soft, well-mannered, quiet boy that she raised, even in that injured state didn't let out a single cry of pain. Her eyes teared up as she rushed towards the ring, grabbed Chase, and pulled him out of the ring.
"OW! What the fuck? Alice is that you? What are you doing here?!" screamed Chase in pain.
"So you do feel pain, huh? God damn it what the fuck came over me when I allowed you to work, all the money you sent, maybe it made me fucking blind towards your actions. The activities you took part in and the money made in question never made sense from the start!" yelled Alice.
Chase didn't have the energy to break off her hold, all he could think of was to talk his way out of it, but she wasn't ready to let go. Greg who saw them leave, headed towards them blocking Alice's path.
"Mister, I don't know who you are but please get out of the way, this is a family matter that he and I need to discuss alone, away from the crowd," she said while trying to push off the huge man in front of her.
Greg didn't budge a bit and was trying to calm her down but failed to do so, "I apologize for this in advance ma'am." said Greg as he grabbed her and Chase in each arm and escaped to someplace without prying eyes.
"Let go of me you foul old man," she said, repeatedly punching him in the sides.
"Alright, alright, fine. Just promise me that you would first let me heal Chase. If this continues he'll die of immense pain and blood loss instead."
Upon hearing Greg's words, she somewhat felt a sense of relief that Chase's horrid state could be healed. Chase had passed out from the pain and took a while to regain consciousness, after opening his eyes he found himself in his room in the orphanage, in the past year he barely visited it and often used to sleep at Greg's, lying to Alice about being away for far off deliveries.
"I told her everything, your lies, the fights, the money, your body condition, and our connection. One thing I didn't tell her was your dream, I think you should be the one to tell her, she is your mother after all."
Chase headed into the children's play area as it was where Alice would practically spend her afternoon, looking after the kids that had no one but her to rely on, it motivated her to be a better role model for the children, she wanted them to grow up to be happy and raise a family of their own one day.
"Where did I go wrong Chase?" she asked upon hearing Chase's footsteps.
"Tell me, Chase, where did I go wrong? Was my strength as a sole foster mother not enough for ALL my kids to grow up happy? Why do YOU, my first child have to go through unbearable pain so that the others don't?" she asked.
"I have to because I'm their big brother and the pain that you talk about is far less compared to the pain of being completely helpless as our home is taken away from us. You didn't go wrong anywhere Alice, you picked up an unknown kid by your doorstep, raised him as your own, and built a facility big enough to support more kids like him, you were perfect, and you still are. It's just time for the first kid to pay you back. That's all this is." replied Chase, trying to sound tough yet couldn't control his eyes from tearing up.
"Mom… I have a dream-" he said.
"That so? Then you must stay true to it and even though it kills me inside, I support it, whatever that dream might be, but swear on my name that you will never enter that cursed ring again."